- assassinate
- assassinate (v.) 1610s, from pp. stem of M.L. assassinare (see ASSASSIN (Cf. assassin)). Of reputations, characters, etc., from 1620s. Related: Assassinated; assassinating.
Etymology dictionary. 2014.
assassinate
Look at other dictionaries:
assassinate — assassinate, assassination 1. The traditional meaning of assassinate ‘to kill an important person for political reasons’ has been extended in recent times to include any person regarded by his or her killers as a political or sectarian target,… … Modern English usage
Assassinate — As*sas sin*ate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Assassinated}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Assassinating}.] [LL. assassinatus, p. p. of assassinare.] 1. To kill by surprise or secret assault; to murder by treacherous violence. [1913 Webster] Help, neighbors, my house… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Assassinate — As*sas sin*ate, n. [F. assassinat.] 1. An assassination, murder, or murderous assault. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] If I had made an assassinate upon your father. B. Jonson. [1913 Webster] 2. An assassin. [Obs.] Dryden. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
assassinate — index dispatch (put to death), extinguish, kill (murder), slay Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 … Law dictionary
assassinate — murder, *kill, slay, dispatch, execute … New Dictionary of Synonyms
assassinate — [v] murder prominent or important person bump off*, do in*, eliminate, execute, gun down, hit, kill, knock off*, liquidate, slaughter, slay; concept 252 … New thesaurus
assassinate — ► VERB ▪ murder (a political or religious leader). DERIVATIVES assassination noun … English terms dictionary
assassinate — [ə sas′ənāt΄] vt. assassinated, assassinating 1. to murder (esp. a politically important or prominent person) by surprise attack, usually for payment or from zealous belief 2. to harm or ruin (someone s reputation, etc.), as by slander,… … English World dictionary
assassinate — verb VERB + ASSASSINATE ▪ attempt to, try to ▪ plan to, plot to ▪ He was executed in 1887 for plotting to assassinate the Tsar. PHRASES ▪ … Collocations dictionary
assassinate — UK [əˈsæsɪneɪt] / US [əˈsæsɪˌneɪt] verb [transitive] Word forms assassinate : present tense I/you/we/they assassinate he/she/it assassinates present participle assassinating past tense assassinated past participle assassinated to kill a famous or … English dictionary
